ASX lifts at the open; energy and miners rallies
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More news: Australian shares opened marginally higher on the second trading day of 2026, lifted by energy and mining stocks.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was up 17.2 points, or 0.20% to 8,745 at 10:40am AEDT. Six of the 11 sectorial indices opened in the green.
Uranium enrichment company Silex Systems (+10.3%), Paladin Energy (+9.57%), NexGen Energy (+8.04%), Deep Yellow (+7.71%) and Alcoa Corporation (+5.36%) were the top performers on the ASX 200 in early trade.
Meanwhile, the tech sector was the worst performing sector on the ASX 200 dragged lower by Aristocrat Leisure (-2.05%), Fineos Corporation (-2%), Catapult Sports (-1.64%) and Macquarie Technology (-1.26%).
Elsewhere, oil companies will be watched closely ahead of the capture of Venezuela's president that may stoke geopolitical tensions and impact the flow of crude from the region.
Brent crude slid as much as 1.2% to $60 a barrel as of 10:27am AEDT.
Australian shares to open lower as Wall Street braces for Venezuela update
The news: Australian shares are set to open lower as Wall Street traders braced for rapid developments in Venezuela and upcoming US jobs data due on 9 January.
The numbers: Updated at 7:25am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 8 points, or 0.09% to 8,726.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.66%, S&P 500 up 0.19% and Nasdaq down 0.03%.
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.56%, DAX up 0.20% and FTSE 100 up 0.20%.
- Spot gold: up 0.28% to USD4,332 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent down 0.16% to USD60.75/bbl and US WTI down 0.17% to USD57.32/bbl.
- AUD: up 0.30% at 66.93 US cents.
- Bitcoin: up 0.73% to USD91,232.
The context: Major US indices closed flat on Friday as traders braced for developments around the Donald Trump administration's dramatic arrest of Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.
Investors are also awaiting more data with a US Supreme Court decision looming on Trump's tariffs, along with his choice of a new Federal Reserve chair.
Traders are closely watching the upcoming US jobs data due on 9 January, amid concerns about potential weakness in the labour market. Fed officials were divided over the path of monetary policy at their most recent meeting in December. Inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% annual target.
Elsewhere, OPEC+ said it will stick with its plan to pause supply increases in the first quarter of the year.
The source: Reuters
